South Dakota man charged with shooting dog in head

MITCHELL, S.D. — A Mitchell man has been arrested after law enforcement found a dog with a bullet hole in its head in rural Davison County.

Nathan Hart, 23, was charged on June 28 in connection with the incident. Though the dog had bullet fragments in her head, she was still alive when found and was turned over to an animal rescue.

According to court documents, the Davison County Sheriff's Office looked into Hart as part of an investigation involving three bluetick coonhounds, which had been loaned to Hart by a party out of Iowa.

The dogs' owner reportedly told Hart he wanted two of the dogs back and that Hart could do what he wanted with the third dog. In October, the owner received a text message from Hart indicating that "the dog was not a good dog, so he shot it."

When interviewed, Hart allegedly denied shooting the dog, stating he had instead dumped her one mile west of where she was later found in the shed.

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Hart is charged with one count of inhumane treatment of animals, a Class 1 misdemeanor.